The present invention relates to recreational watercraft, and more particularly to a catamaran with a manually operated propulsion system.
A wide variety of devices are available for powering watercraft, ranging from paddles, oars and sails to gasoline powered outboard motors and electric trolling motors. Given the present public awareness of the diminishing supply of fossil fuels and the environmental impact of the combustion of these fuels, there is a heightened interest in finding means to propel recreational watercraft other than by gasoline or electric motors. Such alternate, manual propulsion means afford the advantage of low noise operation, and require no gasoline, oil, batteries or other auxiliary energy sources.
One well known manual system employs a paddle wheel driven by a pedal and crank assembly. The pedal and crank assembly is rotated in much the same manner as a pedal and crank assembly on a typical bicycle. Such systems are inefficient, and require substantial effort for moving a watercraft relatively slowly over short distances.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,251 (Lerach et al) discloses a pedal operated drive system for canoes. The drive system employs a pedal and crank assembly to rotate a propeller positioned behind the canoe, for substantially improved performance as compared to paddle wheel systems. A frame supports the pedal and crank assembly, the propeller, and the intermediate drive connections, and is removably mounted to the canoe.
The catamaran hull design is well-known in connection with recreational watercraft, for example catamaran sailboats. Other types of manually operated watercraft with catamaran hulls are commercially available. However, these tend to be heavy, bulky, and require disassembly for transport over land. Varying conditions, e.g. the depth of water, presence or absence of weeds, and the wind speed, give rise to the need for adjusting the watercraft in response, a need not well met by conventional watercraft designs.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a catamaran that can be conveniently transported by cartop, without disassembly of the watercraft.
Another object is to provide a pedal operated system for manually powering a watercraft, in which the moving parts can be locked into a retracted position for land transport.
A further object of the invention is to provide a propeller drive system for watercraft, including means for quickly and conveniently trimming the propeller in response to varying water conditions while the watercraft is afloat and in motion.
Yet another object is to provide a manually operated system for powering a catamaran, which can be adjusted to suit persons of different heights and weights without unduly altering catamaran steering and other handling characteristics.